Blood Ties
by Anna N. Smith
Summary: The Mystic Falls group is facing off Silas in order to save Stefan and after a showdown between Klaus and Silas Caroline becomes a casualty with severe ramifications.
1. Chapter 1

**AN**:

This story is set after season 4/beginning of season 5.

Caroline was never Tyler's girlfriend, thus, Tyler was never unsired from Klaus.

Klaus and Caroline fell in love somewhere in season 3 (AN: if it were only true...).

Jeremy stayed dead, Bonnie is still alive.

I wrote this story before there was much known about Silas, so please apologize any incoherences.

The same applies for the doppelgänger mythology, this will be completely disregarded in my story.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Klaus asked Caroline already the fifth time within ten minutes.

"Yes, for God's sake, stop asking me already. There is nothing going to stop me from going through the plan. We have to save Stefan," Caroline answered rolling her eyes, but made sure to reassure Klaus with a smile.

She caressed the side of his head with her hand and placed a soft, innocent kiss on his lips. He sighed in response and closed his eyes. They're foreheads were touching and the close proximity allowed Klaus to take in Caroline's sweet scent.

"If something were to happen to you-" Klaus started, but was cut off by Caroline before he could even finish his sentence.

"Nothing will happen to me, stop worrying," Caroline said almost cheerfully. She draped her right arm around his shoulders and leaned against his chest, nestling her head in the crook of his neck.

"When it comes to your safety, love, I will always worry." He tightened his arms around her.

It was afternoon and they were sitting outside Klaus' yard on the grass. The sun was slowly beginning to mark the end of the day, making place for the moon to take over later. Klaus was leaning against a tree, embracing Caroline, who was sitting between his legs. He softly stroked her back absentmindedly and let her do the same thing with his chest. She drew circles on his front like she often did, when she happened to wake up earlier than him in the mornings. He noticed only now that it has become a habit of hers to do that and that he loved waking up to that. It made him smile.

"What are you thinking right now?" She glared up to him curiously from under her lashes.

"I'm thinking about you," Klaus answered with a sigh. "You have me totally bewitched."

Caroline could not help but giggle and smacked his chest playfully. "You're so cheesy sometimes."

"Can't help it, sweetheart. Back in the day every man was cheesy when trying to capture the heart of a young, beautiful maiden. We called that 'charm'," he explained amused.

"Did that ever work?" Caroline asked teasingly.

"You tell me," Klaus replied, perking his eyebrow, while showing off his adorable dimples. She laughed and answered him with a kiss.

They lost themselves in their affection for each other until Caroline's phone started to ring in her jeans' pocket.

Klaus growled, not only because he hated the sudden break of contact between their lips, but also because he knew what the call would be about. The others were ready. Ready to commence their plan. A plan which would put Caroline in direct danger. He became visibly tense upon the thought that something could happen to her.

"Damon? Yes. He's there? Okay, we'll be with you shortly," she hung up and turned to Klaus. "Silas is at the Grill. We have to go."

She stood up eagerly, ready to take on Silas. Klaus reluctantly got on his feet as well, following her to his car.

"Do it," she said, turning her whole upper body toward him from the passenger seat. He sighed and took a long moment, contemplating in his head to just screw their plan, take Caroline, and drive to somewhere far, far away, where it would only be the two of them. No Silas, no Scooby gang, no annoying siblings, just him and Caroline. But he knew Caroline would be against it, she would do anything to save Stefan, so the best option he had, was to be a part of this, ensuring her safety, rather than letting her do this alone.

He put both of his hands on the sides of Caroline's face and looked her deep in the eyes. His pupils dilated and he started his compulsion, while his thoughts drifted back to their strategy meeting two days ago.

_"We have to do something! He's holding Stefan captive somewhere! It's already been three months! Three months, Damon! God knows what Stefan has to go through, we can't wait any longer!" Elena nervously paced down the boarding house's living room._

_"I know, Elena. I want to rescue my little brother just as much as you, but we're up against Silas and last time I checked, we still don't have any way of defeating him, since you shoved the cure down Katherine's throat," Damon replied._

_"I'm sorry, but I didn't have much of a choice. She was about to kill me," Elena said, defending herself._

_"I'm not saying this predicament is your fault, I just want to remind you that we're powerless at the moment. We can't just up and go, hoping things will work out once we're facing Silas."_

_"Let's calm down first," Matt intervened. "Bonnie might find another spell."_

_"If it works as well as the last one we're screwed for good," Damon replied, while pouring himself a drink._

_"Hey, she's doing her best. Don't pressure her. She's still having a hard time, since her attempt to bring Jeremy back from the dead failed," Caroline said._

_"I don't think, now, is the time to treat her with kid gloves, blondie. Not since the most dangerous creep of all times is back in Mystic Falls," Damon replied sarcastically._

_"When has it ever been different? It is always the most dangerous creep of all times in Mystic Falls," Caroline answered exasperated._

_"Like your current boyfriend for example," Damon commented snarky, pointing with his glass of scotch toward Klaus._

_Caroline was about to retort, when Bonnie arrived._

_"Please tell us, you found something," Elena looked at her friend with pleading eyes._

_"I found something," Bonnie replied, holding an old, heavy haggard looking grimoire up in the air._

_"Thank God." Elena let out a deep breath._

_"Can we kill him for good with this?" Damon asked._

_"No, he's too strong for that. But the spell I found can strip him from his powers. He will still be immortal, but he won't be able to get into our heads or influence us anymore," Bonnie answered._

_"That's already enough, like this we can force him to tell us where Stefan is afterwards," Caroline said with new hope in her voice._

_"That's quiet a spell you dug out there, witch. Where did you find it?" Klaus asked._

_"I used a spell to bind an ancestor's ghost to me, she gave me a better insight on Sila's nature and helped me find this old book with the spell we need to take on Silas," Bonnie answered._

_"If it is as powerful as you say, can you really pull it off?" Klaus regarded her doubtfully._

_"I can, but I need some things for it to work."_

_"What kind of things?" Matt asked._

_"Some herbs and magic crystals and..." she hesitated._

_"And what?" Damon dreaded what was coming._

_"And a strand of his hair," she answered meekly._

_Damon threw his arms up in the air bitterly. "Because that is so easy to get, Bonnie!"_

_"Nobody said this was going to be easy. Let's think about a way to somehow, miraculously get close enough to him in able to steal a hair," Caroline said._

_"And how do you think we should do that? We can just as well go directly to him and tell him of our plan, because he will know what we're scheming, before we can get even close enough to him!" Damon pointed out._

_Everyone was silent, thinking about a solution on his or her own. The tension was palpable, everyone knew they had to save Stefan somehow, but that 'somehow' was not easy to come up with._

_"What if the person, who is going to get his hair, doesn't know about the plan?" Matt said._

_"What do you mean?" Elena asked._

_"We can just send someone, who doesn't know about the plan. This way he can't find anything suspicious in his head," Matt explained._

_"Considering we even find someone, who would try stealing a strand of hair from Silas without asking a single question, he would still know we set that person up to do it," Damon said._

_"Not if he's compelled," Klaus replied, putting the pieces together, Matt was referring to._

_"Exactly. This way, he won't see it coming," Matt finished._

_"But the moment someone picked his hair, he will get suspicious and kill him. I need some time preparing the spell, I can't just do it the second we have hold of the hair," Bonnie said._

_"Then we have to make sure, he doesn't get suspicious," Caroline answered._

_"How?" Elena asked._

_"What if that someone just goes up to him, thinking he is Stefan, greets him with a hug and, at that moment, gets the hair," Caroline explained, pulling up one end of her lips in a smile._

_"That could work. It's a slim chance, but it could work," Bonnie muttered._

_"But who is the 'someone' we're talking about? It must be someone who knows Stefan, who knows him well enough to embrace him, without it looking suspicious, who hasn't seen Silas in his original form yet, and who can be skillful enough to pull it all off, without him noticing," Damon said, thinking about it hard._

_"I'll do it." Matt volunteered bravely. "I'm the only one of us who can be compelled and he hasn't seen me yet. He won't feel threatened by a human anyway."_

_"No, Matt. It's too dangerous for you. If something goes wrong, you can't even defend yourself at all," Elena said worried._

_"That and how can you justify a guy going through another dude's hair, while greeting him?" Damon added._

_"Also, you're not the only one who can be compelled. Remember, I can compel even vampires," Klaus pointed out smug._

_"Then I do it," Caroline said, as if it's the most natural conclusion. "Klaus can compel me to forget and tell me to get his hair subconsciously, while I think Silas is Stefan and hug him, because I haven't seen him all summer and was worried sick. In this moment I get his hair and take my leave soon after."_

_"You must be out of your mind, if you think I'll let you do that," Klaus interjected, laughing at her._

_"Klaus, it's our only chance. I have to do it," she looked at him with pleading eyes._

_"Let someone else do it, but you will not face Silas," Klaus replied firmly, turning back from her, so that she could not try to persuade him with her wide blue eyes as she usual does._

_"Like who? Blondie is right, she's our only chance. Our best chance," Damon said._

_"Of course you like that idea, because it doesn't involve your girl. Why don't we send little Elena to Silas? How would you like that?" Klaus proposed menacingly._

_Damon did not like the idea at all, in fact he would never let that happen, but fortunately for him, Elena was not qualified for that position. "She can't, because Silas has already met us two. He told us in our face that he's not Stefan and that he has him somewhere captive. So, the only one who can do this is Caroline."_

_"We can use a random person off the streets and compel her, it will not be Caroline," Klaus said roughly, gazing in his glass of bourbon, before he emptied it in one go._

_"That won't work, he will see that she doesn't have any connection to Stefan in her mind and will kill her instantly. We can't take that risk with innocent people," Caroline pointed out._

_"But we can take that risk with you?!" He finally turned around. Angry._

_"Look, I can defend myself at least. If the situation gets wary, I just make a run for it," Caroline tried to calm Klaus. She wanted to place her hand on his arm, but he would not let her._

_"Don't make me laugh, love," he replied bitterly. "How will you, a baby vampire, defend yourself alone against a 2000-year-old warlock?"_

_Caroline huffed annoyed, looking at the others for some help._

_"She doesn't necessarily have to be alone. We can just wait near her, listen in on them and when things get out of hand, we rush to them, distract him, and let her escape to Bonnie, so that she can quickly finish her spell," Elena proposed._

_"Yes, see, you can wait just around the corner," Caroline eagerly jumped on the helping hand. "If you feel I'm in danger, you can just come and rescue me yourself."_

_She smiled at him in confidence. Of course she knew, that there was a high risk, but she was willing to take that for Stefan. Obviously, Klaus did not like the idea, she would probably not like it the other way around as well, but she had to do it. She had to convince Klaus that everything would go as planned and that there would come no harm to her._

_She reached for his hands, this time more insistently, and looked him in his eyes. "I promise you, as soon as it gets too dangerous, I will abort the mission and call you for help, okay?"_

_He sighed exasperated and shifted his face away, still not wanting to look at her, but Caroline placed her hand next to his face, making him look at her, albeit angry, and continued to reassure him. "I promise, Klaus. If you're there, I don't have anything to worry about. Silas is not the only immortal creep in Mystic Falls."_

_She smirked challengingly and the hardness in Klaus' eyes receded slowly and involuntarily. She had him almost, just a last little push was needed for him to come around._

_"It will be over so quickly, I will have enough time afterwards to get all pretty and dressed up for a date with you," she said smiling at him. He did not return her smile, but he sighed again, this time in defeat._

_"Fine, but I will be near you the whole time and you will not do anything risky, understand?" His voice was dangerously low and his eyes unyieldingly sharp._

_"Yes, completely," Caroline answered, not being able to hide her smile over her triumph._

_"Okay, good. Let's go through the details, now," Bonnie said and they finished their plan to take on Silas and rescue Stefan._

Klaus and Caroline arrived only ten minutes after Damon's call. He let her out in front of the Grill and turned around the corner to park, where the others were waiting. Nobody said anything. They just looked at each other and nodded once, tensely waiting for Caroline to make the first move. All the vampires perked their ears and listened in on the conversations inside the bar. Elena took the longest to separate and order the different voices and almost missed Caroline's, when she walked to Silas.

"Stefan? Oh my God, Stefan! You're back!" Caroline hurried to the person, who looked exactly like Stefan, or who Stefan looked exactly like. "I was so worried! Where have you been the last three months?"

She threw herself at him and hugged him tightly, one arm around his shoulders, the other hand placed on the back of his head, pulling him closer to her. "You didn't return any of my calls. I know you wanted some distance, after what happened with Elena and Damon, but how can you not call me even once?!"

She tightened her grip on his hair, while she said that to emphasize her point.

"Because he's incapable of doing anything at the moment," Silas said calmly, but the edge of his voice made a shiver run down Caroline's back. His lack of bodily response, when she hugged him and the answer she had received, made her realize that something was wrong. Very wrong. She slowly let go of him and took one step back, eyeing him warily.

"Who are you?" Caroline tried asking with as much authority as she could muster, but her voice betrayed her, already intuitively guessing what the answer would be.

"I'm not Stefan and your thoughts tell me you already know who I really am," Silas said unfazed, drinking a sip from his whiskey.

"Where is Stefan?" Anger settled next to fear and Caroline took the courage to interrogate Silas.

"Not in a very comfortable place, I'm afraid," he answered nonchalantly, swirling around the liquid in his glass.

"What did you do to him?!" Caroline hissed, entirely furious.

"Nothing I wouldn't do to you, too. So, don't tempt me," he replied, looking into her eyes intensely.

Caroline swallowed hard and took another step back from him. Her instincts screamed at her to get away from the threat as quickly as possible, but she froze suddenly, unable to move.

"Why don't you be obedient and take a seat. I am curious about something." Silas gave her a dangerous smile and patted on the seat next to him, prompting her to sit down.

Every hair on Caroline's arms stood on end, she had never felt this frightened before and that said something, considering the fact, that they did not have much peaceful time here in Mystic Falls. She sat down unwillingly next to him and waited for him to say something.

"You're afraid," he pointed out. "Good, you should be."

He finished his glass and called the bartender.

"One more and," he paused, turning around to Caroline. "What would you like, darling?"

She wanted to say nothing, but he looked at her so intently, that she felt the need to order something, anything.

"Bourbon, please," she said weakly, ordering the first thing that came to her mind.

"Your boyfriend's favorite, isn't it?" He read her mind.

"Yes," she answered in short.

"That is actually why I wanted to have a chat with you," he started. "I'm always keen on learning about my enemies' weaknesses. And now, I have the opportunity to get to know one better personally. He really has a thing for you. I once got into his head, you know, and his thoughts were very interesting. Many of them were about you."

"Naturally," Caroline said with new confidence upon the reminder that she was indeed the love interest of the strongest vampire, no, hybrid, in the world. "We're together."

"I'm stronger than him, you know," Silas replied in order to shatter her new found courage.

"You wish," she answered defiantly.

"See, strength does not entirely come from muscles, it's more about wounding the opponent where it hurts most. You have to get to know them better, learn about their weaknesses and strike when they least expect it. I personally prefer mental torture," he said sweetly.

Caroline had to swallow again. He knew how to intimidate, she gave him that.

"Now, tell me what you're doing here," he turned around to her curiously.

"I'm waiting for Klaus," she slowly answered his question. "We have a date."

"He's running late?" He cocked his brow.

"I'm early," she replied, taking a generous sip from her glass, being thankful, now, for the support it offered her.

"Why don't I believe you?" He eyed her suspiciously. There was something in her thoughts, that gave him a weird, unknown feeling. It was almost like something was blocking him from seeing a particular closed off part in her head and he did not know what that was. This was actually the real reason he wanted her to stay. He wanted to break the barrier and figure out what was going on.

"I'm telling the truth," Caroline said defending herself.

"Yes, I know, but there is something you're not telling me," he replied and used more force to get inside her head.

She yelped out in pain, holding her hands up to her head. "Stop it!"

Nobody in the bar seemed to notice the incident, they all continued drinking and chatting, as if nothing was wrong. Only Caroline cringed in pain, knocking off her stool, while she tried to pull back from his influence.

"Just a little bit more," Silas mused, while he continued his mental assault on Caroline.

She cried out in pain once more, trying to resist his forceful intrusion inside her head. Mentally as well as physically. She pulled together all her strength and shoved him flying against the back of the bar. His connection to the people in the bar was lost for the moment and they snapped out of their trance, resulting in a hysteric commotion. They hastily exited the bar, leaving Caroline alone with Silas.

"Now," Silas began, lifting himself up and calmly cleaning his body from the shattered glass, "I'm pissed."

Caroline knew she had to run. Run as fast as she can, but it was too late. Silas got already in her head, preventing her from escaping. He picked up a broken piece of wood, which originally belonged to the bar shelves, and slowly made his way to Caroline. Once in front of her, he raised the stake and aimed for her heart.

In an instant someone grabbed Silas by his throat and knocked his head, first, against the counter and then against the next wall, twenty feet away from Caroline. Two sets of hands pulled her gently up and she could feel Elena and Damon dragging her out in vampire speed. The only thing she could apprehend in the hectic situation was the last glimpse, before she was out of the bar. Klaus fighting off Silas.

"Do you have the hair?" Damon practically shouted, once they were out of sight.

"The hair?" Caroline asked bewildered, but looked down on her right hand subconsciously. She opened it and, there, in the middle of her palm was a strand of hair. How it got there, she had no idea, but she suddenly realized she was part of some plan, Damon and the others came up with.

"What's going on?" She asked in all Caroline mode.

"No time for that now, blondie," Damon said and took the hair from her. "Let's hurry."

Without knowing what was happening, Caroline followed Damon's cue and vamp sped toward Bonnie and Matt. Once there, everyone got into the cars and drove off as fast as they could. Caroline decided not to ask any questions and just trust everyone blindly. The only concern she had was leaving Klaus back with Silas. She hoped he would be okay, that he would not get hurt by Silas.

Only five minutes later did they arrive at Damon's house. Bonnie hurried to the living room's table, where a bunch of candles, crystals, and other witchy things were prepared. An old book was flipped open to a side with different kind of symbols and emblems on it. In the middle was a text in a language Caroline did not recognize.

"Give me the hair," Bonnie said, looking at Damon and he complied immediately. She started chanting unidentifiable words, while putting all kinds of different things into a small black kettle.

"Can someone tell me now what's going on?" Caroline asked, still not knowing what they were doing.

"We compelled you to get near Silas and steal a hair from him, which Bonnie needs in order to cast a spell on him," Elena explained quickly.

"You compelled me?" She asked irritated.

"It was your idea," Matt said quickly. "You volunteered to do it."

"I did?" Caroline muttered puzzled, but came to the conclusion, that that seemed like her. "Okay, I understand. What kind of spell are we talking about?"

"A spell that will make Silas powerless, though not mortal," Elena answered.

"Bonnie can do that?" Caroline regarded her friend in awe. "How? Since when?"

"Klaus will lift your compulsion later, so that you'll understand everything. For now let's think about a plan in case Silas walks in here before Bonnie has finished her voodoo," Damon said.

"Klaus," Caroline remembered the fighting scene from earlier. "Will he be okay on his own?"

"Who knows? He can't be killed now, can he," Damon answered, shrugging with his shoulders. Elena immediately punched his arm from next to him, not believing how insensitive he was toward a worrying Caroline.

"Ouch, Elena. That," he stopped his sentence. "Okay, no, that didn't hurt. You're sure you're a vampire?"

She just rolled with her eyes and prompted him to calm Caroline down.

"Listen, blondie, he'll be okay. If someone can face Silas, it's Klaus. You don't have to worry about him," Damon said calmly.

Caroline was not entirely convinced, but nodded once understanding. The others were arguing how they should stop Silas, if he were to interrupt them. But her thoughts circled around in her head, worrying about all the possible outcomes of a fight between Silas and Klaus, when she was pulled out of her thoughts suddenly.

"You better hurry, witch," Klaus said, walking into the living room out of breath. "He'll be here soon."

"Klaus!" Caroline immediately ran to him and embraced him tightly. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

She mustered him closely, looking for any kind of injury. But his clothes were intact and there were no blood stains on them, indicating that he did not get wounded.

"I'm fine," Klaus replied, but did not let her go. He held her with one arm at his side and looked to the others standing in the room. "He figured out what we planned. Once I arrived, he got inside my head. I could hold him off for a while, but not long enough to conceal my every thought."

"You bought us enough time," Damon said and looked at Bonnie's unresponsive state. "At least I hope so."

Bonnie was still chanting in the background and threw Silas' hair into the kettle. A small explosion took place and smoke came from the pot. She started speaking louder and all the candles started to flicker restlessly.

"But just in case, I've got an idea," Damon said and told Klaus his plan.

The door crashed open and Silas walked into the boarding house. He looked annoyed and impatient.

"Hello again. I've come to know that you're plotting against me. Thought I come by and teach you a little lesson," Silas said calmly with a fake smile on his face. "A lesson not to mess with me."

"Think I'm gonna skip that lesson, I've always been bad at paying attention in school," Damon replied and threw a stake at him with full force. Silas caught it without even batting an eye.

"It's mandatory," Silas answered and used his powers to get inside Damon's head. He made him take another stake and aim it at himself.

"Stop it!" Elena yelled and attacked Silas. He easily blocked all her kicks and punches, shoving her onto the coffee table.

"I can read all your movements. Think of something better," Silas said almost bored.

"Something like this?" Matt took a shot with his pump gun at him from behind.

"Or this?" Caroline stabbed him with a poker right through his insides, forcing him to his knees. She quickly retreated back to where the others were standing, watching Silas intently, how he slowly got back on his feet and pulled out the poker from his chest without even making so much as a sound.

He threw it to the side on the ground and sighed once. "No, more like this."

A cold chill went through their bodies, paralyzing them for a moment, before turning to each other and attacking themselves.

"Don't you have another move up your sleeve? You're unexpectedly lacking," Klaus said throwing him against the wall, holding him by his throat.

"Coming from someone who threw me against a bar wall only a couple of minutes ago, just like you do now," Silas replied cocky.

"What can I say, I like squeezing the last breath out of my victims while staring into their eyes, watching them suffocating," Klaus answered just as cocky.

"You're forgetting something," Silas started. "I'm immortal. And I have still control over your little girlfriend."

"Klaus," Caroline croaked out in a quivering voice. The sharp piece of a wooden stake slowly bore through her chest. She could not control her hands and they threatened to push deeper.

Klaus rushed to her side and snatched the stake away from her. But Caroline seemed to be still under Silas' influence, trying to hurt herself. He shook her by her arms, telling her to snap out of it, when he saw from the corner of his eyes, Silas walking toward Bonnie, who was still chanting absentmindedly.

"Damon, get Silas!" Klaus yelled out to Damon, who was also stopping Elena from trying to kill herself.

"Damn it, take care of Elena," he told Klaus and was about to head toward Silas, when he saw Matt aiming his pump gun at him. He managed to dodge in the last second, remaining unharmed. But he could not say the same for his collection of liquor.

"You got to be kidding me," he said angry, before he took the gun from Matt and shot Silas with it himself.

"You're really getting on my nerves," Silas said lowly, while straightening his back, where he was shot by Damon. He turned around to face him. "You can continue trying to hinder me from going after Bonnie, but are you sure your Original can stop all your friends from going on a suicide spree?"

Elena as well as Caroline and Matt were, now, even more determined to kill themselves and Klaus had his difficulties being everywhere at the same time.

Damon did not even turn around to look at the situation, his eyes remained on Silas. "Good then, he doesn't have to."

He vamp sped to Silas and threw him toward Klaus, who heard Damon's cue and awaited him with a hand boring through his back, reaching for his heart. He knew it was no use to rip it out, but he guessed it would make it harder for him to concentrate, when he had a tight grip on it.

"Don't underestimate me," Silas said through ragged breathings. "Manipulating your blonde to kill herself, I can do that in my sleep."

This time, neither Klaus or Damon would have been fast enough to stop Caroline from ramming a stake through her heart, but she stopped in her movement all of a sudden just before the wood made contact with her skin.

"What's going on? Why did you stop? Stake yourself!" Silas commanded her, but Caroline did not comply. "DO IT!"

"Your little trick won't work anymore," Klaus said with a victorious smirk plastered on his face.

"You compelled her again," Silas stated, having figured out why she was able to defy his order.

"Bingo," Damon affirmed his guess. "We knew you would try to turn us against each other, so Klaus compelled the rest of us to stop last moment, should you influence us to kill ourselves or a friend. Seems like you have trouble overwriting a prior compulsion."

"And you just pretended to stop them to buy more time," Silas said.

"Well yes and no, I only remembered when you were going after Bonnie. Before, I truly thought Elena was about to kill herself. Klaus, on the other hand, just pretended, to fool you," Damon pointed out self-satisfied.

"You can't get into my head that easily," Klaus said smug.

"I see, me going after the witch was an emergency trigger," Silas stated.

"Right, and it seems like she is about ready," Damon replied, looking around the room. The living area was quaking and the lights were flickering rapidly. Silas could already feel his powers starting to dwindle. But he would not give up so easily.

"It is true that I cannot break a previous compulsion so easily, but," Silas started and the corner of his mouth pulled up in a small smile. "It's not impossible."

He concentrated all his power into cracking the mental barrier that was preventing him from having total control over Caroline, Elena, Matt, and Damon. In his current situation, it was not possible to take over Klaus' mind as well, but once he could control the actions of his comrades, they could occupy him, while he would go after the witch.

Caroline felt the same kind of pain again she felt earlier in the bar, only much more intense. She crooked down to her knees in pain, barely picking up on the other's similar condition around her.

And there it was, Silas mused in his head. He broke it. The four of them stood up, completely in trance. Damon went into Bonnie's direction, while the others were going after Klaus.

"What do you do, now?" Silas said amused.

Klaus let go of his hold over Silas' heart and defended himself against the other's attack, without hurting them too much. Silas wanted to go after Bonnie himself, but he had gotten too weak by now. The witch would finish her spell any second. He needed Damon to act faster.

Klaus realized the predicament and knew he had to stop him no matter what, but the constant attacks on him made it difficult to get even near Damon.

"I got no choice then," he mumbled and after blocking the stake Matt aimed at him, he charged in and broke his neck. He did the same to Elena and even to Caroline. "Sorry, love."

He stopped Damon just in time, before he could lay his hands on Bonnie and broke his neck as well. He let out a relieved sigh, after containing the danger and saw Bonnie finishing her spell, collapsing afterward of exhaustion. It was over. They did it. Their plan actually worked for once.

From behind him he could hear laughter. Unrestrained laughter.

"I can't believe you cut my connection to your companions by snapping their necks," Silas crooked out while laughing. "I truly didn't see that coming. You are an interesting man, Niklaus Mikealson."

"When I can do that to my own comrades, try to imagine what I'm capable of doing to you, if you don't tell me where Stefan is," Klaus said, still standing where Bonnie and Damon were lying.

"No need to threaten me, I know when I lost a battle," Silas replied, tiredly standing up. "I locked him inside a safe and tossed it into the lake."

The cruelty of his act made Klaus brooding with anger. He had been a good friend in the past after all. The thought of him drowning and drowning all over again, left alone starving, craving for blood, made him sick.

"I will make sure you suffer the same," Klaus said in a rough voice.

"No, you won't," Silas replied and picked Caroline up, holding a stake against her chest. "You will let me go or I will kill the girl."

Klaus' eyes widened and pure rage seethed through his body. He instinctively made a step forward to save her and rip that bastards heart out, when he was warned by him.

"Don't, I'm sure I have the stake faster through her heart than you stopping me," Silas threatened, adding more pressure on the piece of wood. "I won't harm her, I just want to take my leave."

He started taking steps back toward the door, never letting Caroline go and keeping a close look on Klaus, who was following at the same speed.

"I admit underestimating you. I never thought you could pull off something like this, but let me assure you, I might have lost this battle, but I will win the war," Silas said confidently.

Once at the door he pushed her toward him and escaped through the front. Klaus caught her, before she could hit the floor, but when he looked up, Silas had already vanished. He decided to take care of Caroline and the others, rather than following Silas. He was no threat to them anymore. He might still be immortal, but he held no power over them any longer. His priority was Caroline now. He took her into his arms and gently stroked her hair.

* * *

It had been a long day. A very long day. Caroline felt exhausted. She had still difficulties processing everything that happened today. After waking up in Klaus' arm, he had told everyone about the end of the battle. That Klaus had defeated Silas, but that he had managed to escape last minute. Fortunately, he had gotten the whereabouts of Stefan's prison and had brought them to the location Silas had stated. They had managed to find and fish him out of the vast lake. Stefan was not in a good condition, both physically, as well as mentally, but they were relieved he was alive and that they had him back finally. After bringing him home, he had consumed a large amount of blood, recovering only slowly. They let him rest, because he needed that the most at the moment. He could tell them everything at a later point, when he would be ready to share his painful experience.

Caroline was in her room, getting ready for bed. All she wanted to do is to lie finally down, close her eyes, and let the day pass at long last. Her mother was still working and would come home late as usual. She waited for Klaus. He was still at Stefan and Damon's, helping them sort out some things. He had told her to go home first, seeing how tired she was and she was thankful for it. Her head ached terribly, even though she had drunk two blood bags already. Luckily, she would not need to be compelled in the near future again, she mused. It was finally over. Maybe they had time now to relax and live their live without any trouble.

She chuckled at her own thought. Since when was that ever granted to them? She lay down on the sheets of her bed, resting for a bit. She wanted to wait for Klaus, before going to sleep, but it was getting harder for her not to drift off into a slumber. In order to keep herself awake, she went through her closet in her mind, contemplating what clothes she would wear tomorrow for her and Klaus' postponed date. She felt happy being able to think about such trivial things at the end of a day. It gave her a feeling of normality.

She heard a soft knock on her bedroom door and the wooden planks crunching under the weight of someone entering. Her eyes were still closed under her resting arm and she had to smile. He was finally home, she thought.

"What took you so long?" Caroline asked in her sweet voice, while sitting up to greet Klaus.

"You were expecting me?" A different voice than Klaus' answered her. She gasped shocked and recoiled reflexively.

"Stefan?" She hoped, but in the back of her head she knew, that this was Silas.

"No, try again," Silas said, but left her no time to guess anew, as he threw a vervain grenade at her. The vervain burned her skin immediately upon contact and she cried out in pain. Before she could form one coherent thought, Silas stabbed her with a syringe, injecting her with more vervain, making her see only black, while she collapsed.

He tied her up at the bed post, while she was unconscious and made sure she could not break free from it once he would wake her up. After he had finished, he went downstairs into the kitchen and got himself a glass from the cupboard. He went back upstairs and woke her up roughly, knowing he had not much time before Klaus would arrive.

"Come on, wake up," he said, slapping her mildly. She groggily opened her eyes and saw Silas crouched next to her.

"Silas," she yelped.

"Missed me?" He pushed a lock behind her ear.

"No," Caroline answered, slowly regaining her equilibrium back. "Actually I thought we're finally rid of you."

"I promise you, I'll be gone after tonight. There's just one thing I have to do before I go," he said calm as usual.

"Kill me?" Caroline glared at him bravely.

"Don't worry, you won't die tonight," he replied, standing up to get the glass, he had placed on her dresser. He pulled out his pocket knife and crouched down next to her again. She looked at him warily, but tried to conceal her fear in front of him. He held the knife up symbolically for her to see and, to her surprise, he cut himself at his wrist, letting his blood gush down the glass. He filled half a cup before the wound started to heal on its own again. Right, he was still immortal, she remembered.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asked, her voice cracking at the end.

"I want you to drink this," he replied and held the glass in front of her face.

She struggled with the ropes that restrained her, but it was no use. He grabbed her chin and forced her mouth open, forcing the glass' content down her throat. He made her drink all of it and wiped the corner of her mouth clean with his thumb afterwards.

"Good girl," he said, flashing a smile at her and stood up, putting the glass back on the dresser. "So, now, I have to go. Wouldn't want to run into your boyfriend again. I think I had enough of him today. Tell him I sent my regards, though. So long!"

"Wait! Why did you make me drink your blood?!" She yelled after him.

He stopped at the door and turned around one last time. "You'll see soon enough."

And with those parting words, he left and it was the last time Caroline ever saw him.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Caroline woke up in Klaus' arms. Her head was resting on his front and the first thing she noticed, before she even opened her eyes, was his scent. She was about to snuggle closer to him, when she realized that he was still fully clothed, just like the night before when he had found her tied up in her room. Her eyes darted up to him and she saw him staring absentmindedly to the wall in front. He was sitting up against the bedhead, still wearing his leather jacket and jeans, only his shoes were lying on the ground.

"Klaus?" Caroline asked concerned.

He snapped out of his revery, upon hearing her voice and looked down to her, giving her a smile, while stroking her hair.

"Good morning, love," he greeted her and his smile changed into a worried look on his face. "How are you feeling?"

Caroline actually took a moment to think about it seriously. She felt fine, nothing out of the ordinary. "My head still hurts a little, not sure if this is because of all the mind control from yesterday or if it's the vervain shot, or both of it, but apart from that I feel perfectly fine. Have you been up all night?"

She sat up as well to face him properly. He nodded and stared back to the wall in front of him. "I went through my memories, hoping I'd find an old tale or legend regarding Silas, in order to figure out why he fed you his blood."

"Found something?" Caroline asked, while she stood up and walked to her dresser, fishing out a nice top and her skinny jeans.

"No," he said sighing. "I should have gone after him, when I had the chance."

He gritted his teeth, restraining his anger from getting the better of him.

"He's gone now and I'm actually quite euphoric about it, so let's just forget about him," she replied nonchalantly and picked out some black lacy underwear at the same time.

"But why would he go through all the trouble, risk getting caught, only to feed you his blood? He had something in mind and I want to know what," Klaus said, still staring at nothing in particular.

Caroline sighed and stopped before she disappeared into the bathroom, turning around to Klaus.

"I really don't know, maybe it's some freaky way to always know where I am or how I feel, like you see it in those vampire TV shows all the time," she joked and went outside to change.

"Maybe," Klaus whispered to himself not convinced of her idea at all. "But I will find out."

He pulled his smart phone out of his pants and went through his contacts to find a certain someone. When he found the number, he pressed 'dial' and waited for the phone to connect.

"Klaus?" A male voice answered.

"I need you to find someone for me," he began, not bothering using formalities such as greetings. "His name is Silas."

He gave him further instructions and details about Silas while Caroline was in the bathroom.

"Got it," the person on the other end said, understanding.

"And make it quick, Tyler," Klaus said and hung up.

* * *

Around 12 pm Caroline and Klaus arrived at the boarding house again. Caroline was worried about Stefan and wanted to see him as soon as possible.

"Hi," Caroline greeted Elena, who opened the door for them.

"Come on in," she said and stepped to the side to let them in. "Stefan hasn't come down yet. He doesn't talk much. At least not with me."

She looked down on the ground, worried about her ex-boyfriend.

"Don't worry, Elena. He will open up once he's ready," Caroline tried to reassure her friend.

"I know, Car. It's just, he's been through so much and I feel so helpless, I don't know what to do," she replied, while walking with them to the living room, which was still a mess from the day before.

"Maybe you should refrain from sleeping with his brother," Klaus said bluntly, making his way to the remains of the Salvatore's liquor stock, trying to find something that was spared from yesterday's battle.

He found a bottle of brandy and a chipped glass and poured himself a drink. Caroline gave him her 'Are-you-serious?-look' for his last comment, but deep down she felt the same way. It was no secret that she was a huge Stefan/Elena fan and that she did not approve much of Elena's misguided change of heart, when she picked Damon over Stefan.

"Look, he will come around," Caroline started, facing Elena again. "Someday. For the moment, just be there for him and wait until he feels able to confide in you. You are right, he's been through a lot, and it's not only the break-up thing, and you and Damon, but also his encounter with Silas. Give him the time."

Elena nodded, understanding and then smiled at her friend, thankful for her encouragement.

"Think I can see him for a moment?" Caroline asked.

"You can try, maybe he'll talk to you," Elena said, hoping a visit from one of his more loyal friends would cheer him up a little, although she felt a pit form in her stomach, realizing that it was not her anymore that could reach through to him like she used to in the past, but someone else.

"When you go upstairs, take this to him, okay?" Damon entered the room and tossed Caroline a blood bag. She caught it and nodded once, turning around to make her way to Stefan.

"I will go take a shower," Elena said, wanting to be alone for a moment.

The atmosphere in the house was stifling and depressing. Even Damon was unnaturally disheartened. Elena left Damon and Klaus alone in the room and went to the next bathroom on the same floor.

Silence filled the living area and an awkward moment formed between the two men. Damon cleared his throat in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Although I'm not your biggest fan, I have to admit you helped out a lot yesterday," Damon started, typically not able to show his gratitude without a form of insult hiding in it. "Without you we wouldn't have managed to take on Silas. And we wouldn't have gotten Stefan back."

He awkwardly reached out his hand to Klaus. "Thank you."

Klaus did not particularly like the bonding moment with Damon, but he could see Damon was struggling with himself and that it took a lot of effort for him to admit being thankful to his enemy, so he took his hand and shook it, accepting the man's gratitude.

"Your brother was a friend of mine before. He didn't deserve what happened to him, so I helped out," Klaus replied, also not finding it in his nature to admit he helped someone like Damon.

Damon nodded and they released their handshake. "Still, I owe you."

"Yes and I'm intending to make sure you honor your debt to me," Klaus said seriously. "Yesterday after we found Stefan and brought him home, Silas paid Caroline a visit."

"What? I thought he was gone," Damon replied, alarmed.

"I thought so, too," Klaus answered. "As you saw, she's fine. He didn't kill her, although he had the chance to."

"Then what did he do? He has no power anymore. He can't get into our heads any longer," Damon pointed out.

"He just talked to her and before he disappeared he made her drink his blood," Klaus explained.

Damon looked at him quizzically. "Why?"

"That is what I'm trying to find out," Klaus said, pacing up and down now. "Caroline says she feels fine, that nothing changed since she drank it. But there is definitely something going on. Silas can't be underestimated."

"I agree," Damon nodded and pulled out his cell phone. "I'll call Bonnie. Maybe she can find something in her ancient magic books that would explain his odd behavior."

Klaus nodded once, before Damon exited the room to talk to Bonnie.

* * *

Upstairs Caroline hesitantly knocked on Stefan's already open door.

"Can I come in?" She asked, sticking her head in the door.

He was standing in front of his window and turned around upon hearing Caroline's voice. He gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Sure, Caroline."

She walked to him and when she was in front of him, she could not help herself. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I know we had the dramatic reunion yesterday already, but I missed you so much."

He hugged her back and felt happy seeing his best friend again. Tears welled up inside her eyes and she could not stop them from pouring down her face.

"I am so sorry. I thought you were gone, because you wanted to get out of here after all that happened. It didn't even cross my mind that something could have happened to you," she apologized, deeply sorry for what happened to her friend. "I tried to call you, but it wouldn't connect and nobody saw you and, and,..."

"It's okay, Caroline. Calm down," he stroked her back, soothing her.

"No, it's not," she cried even harder. "When I heard Silas had gotten to you, I was so worried. We couldn't find you anywhere. I'm so sorry we took so long, Stefan."

"I know, it's not your fault," Stefan replied, letting her hug him as hard as she needed and waited for her to calm down.

"Ugh, I'm such a bad friend. Here I am being comforted by you when it should be me caring for you."

She tried to calm down and straightened up. With the back of her hand, she wiped her tears roughly away and forced a smile on her face. "Tell me, is there anything you need? Anything at all? I promise you I'll fly to the ends of the world and bring it to you, as long as you want it."

He laughed for the first time in months, but shook his head. "There's nothing, really. But thank you, Caroline."

"Okay, but if something comes to your mind, tell me immediately," she said authoritatively.

He chuckled again and nodded. "I will."

She looked at him softly. He looked worn out and mentally utterly exhausted. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," he said honestly, letting out a deep breath.

"Do you want to, maybe, stay at my place, if it's too much-," Caroline started, but was cut off by Stefan right away.

"No, it's fine, Caroline. Really. I'm not intending to stay long anyway," he said carefully, knowing it would upset his friend, who was so worried about him. "You were right, I did want to get away from Elena and my brother. That hasn't changed. Now, I want to get away from Mystic Falls more than ever."

Caroline's eyes were watering again and she took a deep breath to suppress the tears from falling again. She nodded her head repeatedly, understanding, and hugged him once more. "I get it, but tell me before you go, okay?"

"I promise," he replied and squeezed her one last time before he let her go.

"I'll let you rest then," Caroline said and slowly went to the door. "I've brought you a blood bag."

She held it up for him to see and placed it on his bed.

"I heard a hot, extremely gorgeous blonde donated her blood only for you," she joked, making him smile appreciatively. "Call me."

She raised her hand and waved at him, before she left and walked back downstairs again.

"We can go home," she told Klaus, who was still standing in the living room.

"Before that, we have to pay your friend Bonnie a visit," Klaus replied, emptying his second glass of brandy.

"Why?" She looked at him questioningly.

"She's currently trying to find more information about Silas," he answered and put his hand on her small back, walking her to the door.

"Is this still about Silas?" She clicked her tongue. "I'm telling you, forget about it. Whatever he did, failed. Probably because we stripped him from his powers yesterday. So, let it go, please."

"Don't argue with me on this, love," he said, his voice firm and unyielding.

"Fine, let Bonnie tell you the same thing," she replied, rolling her eyes and stomped ahead of him.

She went to the car, where Klaus opened her the door, before she could do it herself. He drove to Bonnie within fifteen minutes, who was expecting them already.

"Come in," Bonnie said as she opened the door.

"Did you find something?" Klaus cut right to the chase of the matter.

Caroline gave her an apologizing look for the rude behavior of her boyfriend, but Bonnie had not been bothered by it in the first place and just smiled at her.

"No, I haven't. There are no records of him whatsoever," she answered frustrated.

They sat down on the couch in front of a coffee table buried in a pile of old books, journals, and documents.

"I can't find anything about the mechanics of a warlock's blood," she said, pointing at the mess of her research. She turned to look at her childhood friend concerned. "You didn't feel anything when you drank his blood?"

"No, nothing. It was just blood. Granted, it tasted a little bit funny than the usual blood I consume, but yours tastes different as well," she said, turning to Klaus. "I just assume that's how a 2000-year-old warlock tastes like. Plain and stale."

"That's not much to work with," Bonnie stated being at her wit's end.

"Sorry," Caroline said, hoping this topic will end for good now.

"Can't you ask that ancestor of yours, whom you had asked about Silas the first time?" Klaus tried a different approach.

"I can't. This spell I used has specific ground rules. One of it entails that I can bind the same ghost only once to me and only temporary," Bonnie explained.

"How does that work anyway?" Caroline asked curiously.

"There are two ways to bind a ghost to a living person. You can do it the way I did by calling a ghost you know the name of for a limited time. In this period you can talk to him or her. I called an ancestor, who lived at about the same time Silas did and asked her about him, before she vanished an hour later again. As I said, I can't call her again. It only works once. The other way is a little bit more tricky, because you bind the ghost to the living person as long as he lives," Bonnie described the spell.

"Oh my God, really?" Caroline was genuinely excited. "Can't you bind your gramps or Jeremy to you then?"

"Technically, yes," Bonnie said hesitantly. "But I would never do that."

"Why?" Caroline asked, regarding her friend quizzically.

"You bind the ghost to a certain object that belongs to the living person, it has to be marked by his or her blood, so that the spirit can recognize it. Like this the spirit finds the vessel that connects it to the medium, but it is also trapped in it. Supernatural beings are sent to the Other Side after they die, but when they're called with this spell they roam in a kind of limbo state isolated from the Other Side. They'll never be able to return, even after their medium died or their vessel is broken. They simply cease to exist entirely."

Caroline was taken aback, sad even, thinking about a lost soul, which completely vanishes.

"It's not healthy. For both of them. The medium will constantly be accompanied by a ghost. There are tales passed down in our family that say, mediums who are continually connected to one spirit are, thus, also continually confronted with the world of death. It can make them go crazy and destroy the vessel to rid themselves from the spirit. For example, a human is especially sensitive, he can't necessarily deal with it."

"I see," Caroline said, guessing that Bonnie must have thought of using this kind of spell to see Jeremy again if not for the consequences.

"So, you can't find another way to get in touch with your ancestor?" Klaus asked.

"No, the blood line goes back too far, otherwise I could have called her the normal way," Bonnie explained. "I'm sorry. For now, our best chances are to ask Silas himself."

Caroline snorted disdainful. "I really don't want to see him ever again."

"Yes, me neither. All Silas brought upon us is pain," Bonnie replied bitterly, thinking about Jeremy and Stefan.

Caroline reached for her hand and squeezed it once, comforting her. Bonnie answered her with a sad smile, before she got up. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

"It's fine, you've already done enough," Caroline replied and also stood up. "We're going then."

The three of them went to the front door and said their goodbyes.

"Bye, Caroline," Bonnie said, while hugging her. "Sorry again."

"Don't worry about it, Bon. Everything's fine," she replied, waving her goodbye until she closed the door.

"Now, that was utterly disappointing," Klaus concluded.

"I wouldn't say that," Caroline said. "She might not have found anything about the workings of a warlock's blood, but that can just as well mean that there is nothing to tell about it in the first place."

Klaus sighed and walked down the small staircase in front of Bonnie's house. "Maybe you're right. Let's get something to eat, shall we?"

He smiled and reached her his hand, waiting for her to follow him. She returned his smile and was actually happy about his proposal to go eat something, she felt quite hungry. She took a step forward, reaching for his outstretched hand, when she looked into the sun. It made her dizzy for a moment and let her lose her balance on her heels, almost falling down the stairs. Klaus caught her right away and helped her stand up properly again.

"What was that?" He tried to hide his amusement, but failed miserably. "Love, if you can't walk in heels, don't wear them."

He laughed at her and offered her his hand to help her walk safely to the car.

"I can walk in heels!" She said outraged, that he made fun of her.

Klaus kept laughing, even though he knew he picked on her womanly pride. "Yes, I could see that."

"You jerk!" She punched him playfully, but was unable to stop the corners of her mouth from lifting up into a smile.

He opened her the door to the passenger seat, like the gentleman he was, and walked around the car to sit next to her and took her to lunch.


End file.
